Senior Vice President, Brand Strategy

Overview

You provide the vision, set the pace and inspire success.

There is one thing you do that is exceptional: lead. You formulate a plan and focus your team to solve the unsolvable, beat the unbeatable and come out on top. Your capacity to creatively strategize, motivate , and elicit achievement makes you the right fit for this vital Senior Vice President, Brand Strategy role with GSW.

The SVP, Brand Strategy will be a key leader in the department, in the agency, and for clients.  This is a highly visible role that requires the drive to seek out opportunities on assigned accounts and beyond.

• Reporting to the EVP, Strategy, you will help drive the vision for the department.  You will recommend staffing plans, help develop the team’s talent, and drive the agency’s overall understanding of the value that strategy can bring to the table.  You will set standards for how the Brand Strategy can work effectively within varying scopes of work.
• You will lead brand strategy for new business pitches, while also contributing significantly to the optimization of our overall pitch strategy and process.
• You will work seamlessly with your colleagues in account, medical, creative and CX to build, enable and advocate for strategic ideas that lead to effective campaigns that help drive powerful change.

The SVP, Brand Strategy has a natural affinity for big ideas and has excellent skills in finding ways to understand trends, beliefs and behaviors. The information you digest comes back out as useful insights and strong strategic points of view ground the team, lead to great creative, align with measurable objectives, and ultimately that address our clients’ challenges. You will use your excellent communication skills, influential personality and ability to foresee needs to proactively meet the evolving needs of clients and the agency.

GSW is a full-service healthcare communications agency that goes beyond advertising to create personalized brand experiences. We develop strategic marketing solutions for pharmaceutical, biotech and health-and-wellness clients around the world. We create experiences that involve, inspire, educate and activate people through ongoing brand journeys.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with clients and contribute to solving their business challenges.  Identify ways to support client successes and organic growth opportunities
  for the agency.
• Work with account management and CX partners to steward compelling competitive analyses
• Lead cultural analysis: what's going on in the culture at large that could influence the target audiences and impact perceptions of our brand.
• Understand the fundamentals of analyzing dynamic content (social media, blogs, news sites) and know how to apply the findings.
• Be an exceptional writer and a brilliant presenter.  Adjust communication style to meet varying needs of client audiences.
• Develop and lead workshops related to strategy development and idea generation.
• Develop creative briefs and creative briefings that inspire great work. Teach others how to do the same.
• Set the standard for how the brand and CX tools are meant to be used (target personas, customer journey maps, message hierarchies, brand architecture, etc).
• Create thought leadership pieces and points of view (insights, trends, etc.)
  to fuel the agency blog.
• Play a lead role in business development (agency positioning, strategy, preparation, meetings, pitches, etc.).  Determine appropriate strategy process for each pitch that takes resources and timing into account.
• Ensure projects are properly scoped for Strategy resources; ensure appropriate resources are assigned.
• Determine a fiscally responsible staffing structure for direct reports.  Evolve it as needed to adjust to agency and client needs.
• Manage and mentor direct reports. Ensure that a career path is established and communicated to them.  Ensure they receive appropriate training and feedback.  Set appropriate goals and support them in managing/prioritizing workflow.
• Develop and maintain a stable of trusted research partners.
• Develop and maintain a stable of trusted freelancers.
• Ensure all deliverables are met efficiently and on time.

Job Requirements

• BS/BA (preferably in fields related to communication, analysis and/or critical thinking, such as journalism, liberal arts, human behavior sciences).
• 12+ years’ experience working as a Brand Strategist (or brand planner) in the marketing or communications fields; experience working closely with or in an advertising agency required.
• Experience working in health-related brands and categories (pharmaceutical, hospitals/health systems, health insurers, etc.)
• Understanding of market research and data analysis
• Knowledge of business operations and procedures
• Organizational and leadership skills
• Excellent communication skills

I understand that if I am made an offer of employment, it will be conditioned on my demonstration  I am fully vaccinated OR I plan to initiate vaccination by my start date AND be fully vaccinated within 4 weeks of start date against the COVID-19 virus.   ​

IMPORTANT: I understand that if the role for which I am applying requires extensive in-person contact with colleagues, health care providers, clients and other medical professionals who have stringent vaccination requirements that all Syneos Health employees with whom they partner be fully vaccinated and will not accept or consider any exemptions.  I understand I can request an exemption from Syneos Health’s vaccination requirement based on a qualifying medical condition or sincerely-held religious belief. However, in the event that I successfully obtain an exemption, I understand that it is highly unlikely that I will be able to adequately perform the essential functions of this position without imposing an undue hardship on Syneos Health due to the clients’ demands.

GSW turns against the premise of doing the “same old.” Our culture is focused on collaborative, meaningful advertising and day-to-day interpersonal interaction. We value the diverse backgrounds of our team members, and everyone has the opportunity to provide input and be heard. GSW is comprised of creative, motivated individuals who are all here for a reason. We welcome those who strive to work above and beyond their role, who voice their opinion and who are engaged in all aspects of the agency.

GSW is part of Syneos Health Communications, a purpose-built collective of agencies focused on supporting health and biopharmaceutical innovators. We work in scalable, collaborative teams that partner across disciplines and geographies to deliver integrated communications strategies that accelerate brand performance. In today’s fast-changing and complex environment, success lies in making connections: between science, emotion, and technology; between data, design and human insight. We’re able to make those connections because our medical communications, digital, advertising, public relations, data science, research and market access specialists work closely with each other and with healthcare experts, including physicians, pharmacists and advocates. Together, we are the connected healthcare partner tapping rich insights to drive innovation, change behavior and pioneer a new era of accountable marketing.

Syneos Health Communications is powered by Syneos Health, a global professional services organization designed to help the biopharmaceutical industry shorten the distance from lab to life.

WORK HERE MATTERS EVERYWHERE | How will you accelerate bringing new therapies to patients?

Syneos Health is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer (Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled)